In 1979, El Camino College revised its faculty evaluation procedure, impelled by concerns over the severe consequences and resultant rarity of unsatisfactory ratings, the reluctance of faculty to evaluate their peers, and the high requirements of faculty time. The new procedure includes the following components: (1) options allowing tenured…

This document, developed by the Ninth Institute on Rehabilitation Issues Prime Study Group on Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), is intended to provide basic information and guidelines to state agencies for implementing meaningful services to SLD clients. The publication is organized into five sections, with each section divided into…

The current status of state policy on minimum competency testing in Wisconsin, and the political process that produced that policy, are explored in this report. The document presents the preliminary findings of research conducted for a doctoral dissertation. The research methodology, mentioned only briefly, involved participant observation,…

The purpose of this report is to identify the issues that policy makers and practitioners ought to consider when formulating and establishing social policies and services for young children. The six chapters included are grouped according to three parts. Part 1 describes the context of social and family environments for children living in the…

A cross-national analysis reveals that women's status in contemporary society must be considered as a multidimensional phenomenon and that no one isolated factor best explains women's overall position. Using data from "The Handbook of International Data on Women" (Boulding and others, 1976), and from United Nations documents, a model to reflect…

Rural education may be the beneficiary of the current national focus on educational reform since concerns have centered on improving education for all students regardless of where they live, a direction not emphasized in most previous reform movements. The reforms bring challenges relating to teacher certification, curriculum, facilities, student…

The findings and recommendations of five task forces, composed of members of major Latino organizations and experts in Latino affairs, are summarized in this report on the public policy needs of Hispanics. The five areas of concern covered by the task forces are statistical policy and data needs; employment ane economic well being; social services…

Symposium participants concentrated on maintaining the economic viability of agriculture through improved agribusiness techniques including increased individual and collective marketing strategies and greater responsiveness to consumer demands. Related problems were decline of roads and bridges, competition with nonagricultural users for rural…

Four essential steps for integrating computer technology into a school districts' reading curriculum--needs assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation--are described in terms of what educators can do at the district and building level to facilitate optimal instructional conditions for students. With regard to needs assessment,…

An assessment is presented of the status of fitness and sports promotion in Australia. Fitness and sports are treated as two separate elements in the overall picture. An attempt is made to identify national policy and the process by which that policy was developed. A description is given of how policies are implemented, with special emphasis on…

The integration of issues management into the institutional strategic planning process at Pennsylvania State University is discussed. The significance of issues management as an organizational process is also considered. Stages of the issues management process are: (1) scanning the external environment to identify strategic issues; (2) analyzing…

The changing role of women in the family is discussed, and alternative policy options relevant to female-headed and dual-income families are identified. A model of family functions and an outline of the historical forces shaping family roles from preindustrial to present times are presented. The model indicates the typical allocation of nine…

Points at which state policies can control entry of individuals into the teaching profession were studied. A 50-state survey identified points of policy intervention and types of policies in effect in each state during 1983-84. Four in-depth case studies provided details about the political environment and rationale behind each policy, the extent…

Hearings on reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, 1985, are presented. The hearings, which were held in Connecticut, include the views of eight college students and five university presidents on the Reagan Administration's proposals. President Reagan's fiscal year 1986 budget proposal would cut $2.2 billion from student financial programs.…

This report critically reviews major empirical studies of student demand for higher education in the United States. It focuses on one policy issue, that of equalizing the access of students of different economic means and using tuition and student aid to achieve the desired distribution of those students in colleges. The studies reviewed are…